A SCHEME which means housing tenants are threatened with eviction if their children drink on the streets could be extended across a whole borough.

Police and bosses from Twin Valley Homes, which has 8,000 properties in Blackburn with Darwen, are meeting to discuss how the trial in Bank Top and Wensley Fold went.

Operation Enforce was launched after increases in the numbers of teenagers drinking on the streets since the clocks went forward.

Letters were sent to tenants in the two Blackburn districts prior to the Easter Holidays, warning that persistent street drinking after verbal warnings could result in eviction.

Police mounted covert and high-visibility patrols over the two-week break to catch children drinking. But none was persistent enough to be threatened with eviction.

Police Sergeant Paul Goodall said Operation Enforce had worked well, with the severe punishment acting as a deterrent.

He added: "The response from the public has been positive. People have been saying 'it's about time'.

"I am confident it will continue."

Sgt Goodall is scheduled to meet representatives from Twin Valley, which controls the borough's stock of former council houses, early next week to discuss if and how they would extend it.

Coun Don Rishton, of Wensley Fold ward, said he welcomed the clampdown becoming a permanent feature -- as long as it was not a "knee jerk reaction".

He added: "If it is done in a responsible and considered manner, then I am in favour. There have been significant problems in the areas over the years.

"There are areas of the Twin Valley estates and others which get affected and this can be a nightmare for the residents.

"It is not a recent problem. I doubt whether they will get a quick fix, but it is something that needs to be tackled and hopefully they will reduce, if not eradicate the problem."

Twin Valley is keen to crack down on anti-social behaviour -- and has evicted one tenant for having a scruffy garden.